National Insurance Contributions Overview

What is National Insurance and what does the NI number mean in the United Kingdom?

NATIONAL INSURANCE 2017/18: Find out how much you pay to the UK Government and HMRC in National Insurance Contributions. Perhaps more important, why do you need to pay NIC?

This section has the current National Insurance rates and classes. You may need this information to check your contributions record.

To qualify for your State Pension and other certain benefits you must pay National Insurance (NI) contributions.

If you are 16 or over and earn above £157 a week, or self-employed making a profit of over £6,025 a year, you pay National Insurance.

To start paying National Insurance Contributions you will need your National Insurance number. To protect your National Insurance record, your NICs are considered paid if you earn between £113 and £157 a week.

National Insurance Classes

NI 'classes' are the different types of National Insurance. The class you pay depends on:

Your payments are lower if you are a married woman or a widow with a CA4139 'Certificate of Election'. Apply for a CA4139 by filling in the CF9 form. You also pay less if you have more than one job and want to defer your NI contributions.

Note: Employers' National Insurance Contributions vary depending on the category letters of their employees.

How to Pay Voluntary National Insurance

Your NI contributions are part of your tax payments. Your employer deducts these payments before you receive your wages. The amount you contribute shows on your payslip.

As a Director of a limited company you can also be your own employee. You would pay Class 1 NI contributions through your PAYE system.

What if you are Employed and Self-employed?

It is possible that you are self-employed and an employee of another company. So being self-employed you will pay Class 2 and Class 4 National Insurance contributions. As an employee you pay Class 1 NI via your PAYE deducted by your employer.

The amount you pay, above your PAYE contributions, depends on your combined income from all your jobs. File your Self Assessment tax return with HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC). They will then determine the amount of National Insurance contributions you must pay.

NI Rules for Landlords, Directors, and Share Fishermen

National Insurance rules vary for the following occupations:

Directors of a company.

Those who conduct their business predominantly as landlords.

Share fishermen such as a master or a crew-member of a British fishing boat manned by more than one person.

You can top up your pension using a Class 3 contribution. The most you can pay is £25 per week. As a rule, if you are self-employed and your profits are over £8,164, your Class 4 contributions do not count towards your state benefits.

National Insurance Help for those Not Working

As a rule, gaps in your National Insurance record affect your benefits. You can use National Insurance credits to help fill any gaps and protect your benefits.